Sweden beat Italy for first win since July and winning start to World Cup campaign

[p]Without a victory since the UEFA Women's EURO last summer, the pressure was on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/hGWL8MmL/"]Sweden[/a] to reverse their recent form and get off to a good start in Group A1, all the while fielding a centre-back pairing of debutant [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andersson-bella/YDWDJXd9/"]Bella Andersson[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nelhage-elma/4zW2NMcf/"]Elma Junttila-Nelhage[/a], who had just three caps to her name.[/p][p]The new-look defence saw out the first quarter of the match without conceding an Italian shot on goal, and it was at the midpoint of the opening half that Sweden not only had their first effort on target, but broke the deadlock with it.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schroder-felicia/vBijkSOn/"]Felicia Schroder[/a] found [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/angeldal-filippa/G0VvsllA/"]Filippa Angeldahl[/a], and she took aim from outside the area with a shot that struck the inside of the post and nestled in the bottom corner for her 24th international goal.[/b][/p][p]The Italian response was limited, as Swedish goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/falk-jennifer/hpoFCieN/"]Jennifer Falk[/a] made it to half-time without having to make a save, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cambiaghi-michela/6g2p8SvF/"]Michela Cambiaghi[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caruso-arianna/A3baOH0A/"]Arianna Caruso[/a] both saw efforts fail to trouble the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/Ye260xTF/"]Liverpool[/a] stopper.[/p][p][b]Falk was finally tested approaching the hour mark when she denied [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cantore-sofia/M3im5HW1/"]Sofia Cantore[/a], before Blagult received a real let-off five minutes later when Cambiaghi struck the woodwork.[/b][/p][embed guid="612182cc-b7e8-4e7d-8017-1848b3a37185" url="https://x.com/svenskfotboll/status/2028910176384733297" social-type="twitter" /][p]Substitute [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piemonte-martina/bPrC8ar4/"]Martina Piemonte[/a] was next to work Falk as the match entered its final quarter, as Sweden boss Tony Gustavsson turned to the experienced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rolfo-fridolina/CtQwaA8t/"]Fridolina Rolfo[/a] to try and control the latter stages.[/p][p]The coach's instructions worked, [b]as Sweden held out late on for a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/italy-fiD8utDF/sweden-hGWL8MmL/?mid=rwm2Mg1m"]crucial 1-0 victory[/a], sealed with their only effort on goal in the entire 90 minutes.[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/denmark/W0rDArJ8/"]Denmark[/a]'s 3-1 success over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/serbia/nysgULwS/"]Serbia[/a] means the Swedes sit second in the table after one matchday, with Sweden travelling to Stara Pazova to face Serbia on Saturday 7th March.[/p][p]Only the winner of the "A" groups qualifies directly for the World Cup, with those finising second to fourth heading to the Play-offs.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/world/world-cup-women/"]Review tonight's 2027 Women's WCQ results on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]